Container sector sees uptick in intra-Africa trade

25 May 2017

Overcoming
intercontinental trade barriers remains a key priority for Africa. With this in
mind, the continent is prioritising its long standing internal trade barriers
to make the long term vision of easier international trade possible.

The
most recent progression in this regard is the increasing implementation across
the continent of the one-stop border post concept, in which two countries
jointly operate a border crossing to remove the usual two-step process, greatly
simplifying the procedural requirements for intra-Africa trade.

According
to David Williams, Maersk Line Africa Chief Executive and Global Head of
Safmarine, a major factor which has impacted development in Africa is
intra-regional trade, which Williams says has experienced some much needed
growth, particularly over the past year.

“Intra-Africa
trade, which acts as a catalyst for growth across the continent, has seen an
uptick over the past year – largely due to the recovery of the oil price. It is
important to note how many African countries are still fundamentally
oil-dependent, like Nigeria and Angola.”

Increased
foreign investment is, however, beginning to reduce the dependency on oil for
some of these countries,” he says.

A
prime example of this is the trend among Chinese tile exporters in shipping out
their machinery to establish manufacturing plants in West Africa. As
construction continues to gain momentum as a result of these projects, the
companies will be looking to export these tiles from one African country to
another, further boosting intra-regional trade.

Williams
goes on to explain that the benefits which come with increased intra-Africa
trade are vast and stretch far beyond just economic gain. “In addition to
diversifying the African economy to a greater extent, increased intra-regional
trade results in the creation of better-quality employment and increased
foreign investment, along with better bilateral trade – all of which will
ultimately benefit the overall health of the continent and its people.”

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